Breynia vitis-idaea, the officinal breynia, is a perennial tree-like species of Phyllanthaceae (Euphorbiaceae s.l.), found from India east to Taiwan and Okinawa and south to Indonesia. It is a shrub or treelet with egg-shaped leaves that can reach up to 3 m tall. It has staminate flowers and spherical, red fruit.
Breynia vitis-idaea is pollinated by the leafflower moth Epicephala vitisidaea in Fujian, China and the Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. The moth actively pollinates the flowers, but lays an egg into the space between the external carpel wall and the tepals. The moth caterpillars consume a subset of the tree's seeds, receiving nourishment in return.Kawakita, A.; Kato, M. 2004. Obligate pollination mutualism in Breynia (Phyllanthaceae): further documentation of pollination mutualism involving Epicephala moths (Gracillariidae). American Journal of Botany. 91: 1319–1325.Zhang, J., Hu, B., Wang, S. & Li, H. (2012). "Six new species of Epicephala Meyrick, 1880 (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) associated with Phyllanthaceae plants." Zootaxa 3275: 43-54.
It contains the saponin breynin and terpenic and phenolic glycosides. It is marketed in Taiwan as Chi R Yun.
Toxicity Breynia vitis-idaea poisoning causes hepatocellular liver injury.
Other names Breynia officinalis Hemsley and B. officinalis var. accrescens (Hayata) M.J.Deng & J.C.Wang are synonyms of B. vitis-idaea.
Other variants include: Breynia formosana (Hayata) Hayata Breynia officinalis Hemsley var. officinalis Breynia stipitata Muell. -Arg. var. formosana Hayata Breynia stipitata Muell. -Arg. var. formosana Hayata
Other common names in English include: Formosan breynia Large calyx breynia Medicinal breynia
Common names in other languages include:
, ,
(; ), ดับพิษ (; ) (northern), ก้างปลาทะเล (; ), ผักหวานตัวผู้ (; ) (central)ค้นหาข้อมูลพืช
References
External links Photograph of B. officinalis Hemsl.